Sylvia Herbert, 34
BS/MS mechanical engineering ’14
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO
Sylvia Herbert, 34
BS/MS mechanical engineering ’14
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO
Sylvia Herbert designs the systems behind self-driving cars and medical robots, helping to make autonomous technologies safer and more reliable.
Sylvia Herbert’s research focus sounds futuristic, but the future is right now. She focuses on efficient and safe decision-making in robotics and autonomous systems, with applications to self-driving cars, robotic medical procedures and aerial vehicles — all which brings together advanced mathematical theory, machine learning and physical testing. An assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at University of California in San Diego, she has authored over 40 peer-reviewed papers and is an active leader within the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), where she founded the Robotics and Automation Society Technical Committee on Robot Control. She is the recipient of the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, an Amazon Research Award and multiple teaching awards. There’s certainly a lot on her plate, but she credits her time at Drexel, where she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in five years, for helping her with time management.
“Because of the skills I developed in time management, I have been able to win major research/teaching awards, foster a supportive and diverse research group and also maintain work-life balance while raising my kids.”
At Drexel, she dove into research development right from the start as a participant in the STAR Scholars program through the Pennoni Honors College, which exposes first-year students to faculty-mentored research and scholarship. She went on to complete a doctorate in electrical engineering at UC Berkeley in 2020. It’s all left her well prepared for the future, whatever it might hold.
My Greatest Accomplishment:
I am most proud of something that I had to develop as a student at Drexel: time management skills. Running an active research group while balancing the teaching and service requirements of a professor at an R1-rated research university is challenging but very rewarding.
How Drexel Shaped My Path:
The opportunities for development at Drexel went far beyond academics. In addition to receiving my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in five years thanks to the BS/MS program, I was able to travel to new countries with fellow students via special courses through the Pennoni Honors College; participate in both industrial co-op and research co-op experiences to learn what kind of work I wanted to pursue upon graduation; become active in the mechanical engineering department as a student representative; and participate actively in relevant student organizations that built my social network. I believe Drexel made me a more well-rounded individual by the time I graduated. I knew how to interview for a job and work under a boss, I knew what research labs were like in different fields of engineering, and I knew how to take on leadership roles within organizations.
Where I Hope To Be in Five Years:
Hopefully I will be a tenured professor, continuing to balance work, family and hobbies! DM
My Greatest Accomplishment:
I am most proud of something that I had to develop as a student at Drexel: time management skills. Running an active research group while balancing the teaching and service requirements of a professor at a top R1 university is challenging but very rewarding.
How Drexel Shaped My Path:
The opportunities for development at Drexel went far beyond academics. In addition to receiving my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in five years thanks to the BS/MS program, I was able to travel to new countries with fellow students via special courses through the Honors College; participate in both industrial co-op and research co-op experiences to learn what kind of work I wanted to pursue upon graduation; become active in the mechanical engineering department as a student representative; and participate actively in relevant student organizations that built my social network. I believe Drexel made me a more well-rounded individual by the time I graduated. I knew how to interview for a job and work under a boss, I knew what research labs were like in different fields of engineering, and I knew how to take on leadership roles within organizations.
Where I Hope To Be in Five Years:
Hopefully I will be a tenured professor, continuing to balance work, family and hobbies! DM
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